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Shilpa KarhikLord Byron - She Walks in Beauty
April 10th 2006 04:03
Hello everyone! Welcome to the first post of my new "Daily Poem" blog. I'll be posting about one poet each day, as the name implies, usually with some background information on the poet and one or more poems. I'm planning on covering a variety of genres, styles and time periods, but of course comments with suggestions as to what types of poetry you're interested in are more than welcome.
Anyway, for this first blog, I've chosen a Lord Byron poem I discovered recently via slightly unusual means: I was watching the most recent film version of Vanity Fair (a movie I highly recommend), and the music in the opening credits is the following poem set to music, and sung by Sissel. The song has a beautiful, haunting atmosphere and stuck with me, so I looked the poem up and here it is!
SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY
by Lord Byron
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!
The poem was written in 1815, about Byron's cousin Mrs Wilmont, whom he saw in mourning dressed all in black. The purity and simplicity of this piece, and much of his other work, is very much at odds with Lord Byron's reputation - born in London, his short life was one scandal after another and he was forced to leave Britain and live abroad until he died of fever at age 36. But this was not before he had written a vast amount of poetry, (most notably Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage) having a huge influence on the Romantic movement and Continental art and poetry.
Anyway, for this first blog, I've chosen a Lord Byron poem I discovered recently via slightly unusual means: I was watching the most recent film version of Vanity Fair (a movie I highly recommend), and the music in the opening credits is the following poem set to music, and sung by Sissel. The song has a beautiful, haunting atmosphere and stuck with me, so I looked the poem up and here it is!
SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY
by Lord Byron
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!
The poem was written in 1815, about Byron's cousin Mrs Wilmont, whom he saw in mourning dressed all in black. The purity and simplicity of this piece, and much of his other work, is very much at odds with Lord Byron's reputation - born in London, his short life was one scandal after another and he was forced to leave Britain and live abroad until he died of fever at age 36. But this was not before he had written a vast amount of poetry, (most notably Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage) having a huge influence on the Romantic movement and Continental art and poetry.
Lord Byron (1788 - 1824)
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